Good morning…
God continues to teach us about the joyful power which exists beyond death. I am intrigued by the words which came into my inbox yesterday.
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DAILY MEDITATION | SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 A Death for Others by Henri Nouwen
The great mystery is that all people who have lived with and in the Spirit of God participate through their deaths in the sending of the Spirit. God’s love continues to be sent to us, and Jesus’ death continues to bear fruit through all whose death is like his death, a death for others.
In this way, dying becomes a way to an everlasting fruitfulness. We touch here the most hope-giving aspect of our death. Our death may be the end of our success, our productivity, our fame, or our importance among people, but it is not the end of our fruitfulness. The opposite is true: the fruitfulness of our lives shows itself in its fullness only after we have died. We ourselves seldom see or experience our fruitfulness. Often we remain too preoccupied with our accomplishments and have no eye for the fruitfulness of what we live. But the beauty of life is that it bears fruit long after life itself has come to an end. Jesus says: “In all truth I tell you, unless a wheat grain falls into the earth and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest” (John 12:24).
This is the mystery of Jesus’ death and of the deaths of all who lived in his Spirit. Their lives yield fruit far beyond the limits of their short and often very localized existence.
But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you (John 16:7, NIV).
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I am not kidding, just five minutes after reading this profound wisdom a fun photo mysteriously popped up on my phone. I could not wait to share it with Kitty Crenshaw, co-author of The Hidden Life Awakened, who is pictured on the left, with me on the right, and our spiritual mentor Betty Skinner in the middle, a Christian mystic who went to Heaven on August 17th.
“Look what just popped up on my featured photos,” I texted Kitty. “Betty is playing with us from the other side. This selfie was taken on October 26th, 2019.”
“SO FUNNY AND SOOOOOOOO TRUE!!” Kitty responded.
Both those who plant spiritual seeds and those who reap the spiritual harvest will celebrate together with great joy! (John 4:36b, TPT). From the other side of death, the fruitfulness of Betty Skinner continues to produce a great harvest. While with us on earth, she often used to say, “I can do more for you from there than I can from here.”
What great joy!
…Sue…
